\ - \ 


J 


Hi  l 


PM». 

CHlM 


MISSION AR  Y 
ENTERPRISE  IN 

CHINA 

From  a Social  and  Secular 
Standpoint 


Being  a Resume'  of  an  Article  by 
Chester  Holcombe,  for  Thirty  Years 
Connected  with  American  ‘Diplomatic 
A ffairs  in  China,  Printed  in  The 
A tlantic  Monthly,  September,  / 906 


IT  Copies  of  this  leaflet  may  be  had  in 
any  quantity  by  asking  the  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  281  Fourth  Avenue, 
New  York,  for  Leaflet  No.  252 


I 


Missionary 
Enterprise  in  China 

By  Chester  Holcombe 


ARE  missionaries  as  such  at  all 
responsible  for  the  unrest  in 
China?  Have  uprisings  large 
or  small  had  their  origin  in 
popular  protests  against  missionary  en- 
terprise? Do  the  Chinese  Government 
and  the  Chinese  people  feel  the  presence 
of  missionaries  to  be  an  unwelcome  in- 
trusion and  an  impertinent  interfer- 
ence ? 

These  ideas,  so  commonly  met  and  so 
constantly  reiterated — sometimes  as  ques- 
tions, frequently  as  positive  assertions — 
have  again  and  again  been  disproved  by 
friends  of  the  missionary  cause.  But — 
seemingly  because  they  were  friends — 
their  testimony  was  not  widely  accepted. 
A cause  was  needed  to  explain  certain 
effects;  a scapegoat  to  bear  the  burden 
of  certain  sins — and  the  missionary 
proved  very  convenient. 

Important  Testimony 

It  is,  then,  a matter  of  great  moment 
that  testimony  of  the  highest  and  most 
unbiased  character  bearing  upon  these 
questions  has  been  given  to  the  public. 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  3 


Those  who  wish  to  form  an  intelligent 
opinion  upon  the  facts  of  the  case  have 
now  the  means  of  doing  so  without  ac- 
cepting the  defendant’s  testimony  in  his 
own  behalf.  For  it  is  not  a missionary 
— not  even,  so  far  as  is  shown,  a Church 
member — but  a diplomatist,  who  speaks. 
And  he  speaks  as  a diplomatist,  seeking 
the  factors  which  underlie  and  influ- 
ence the  national  situation  in  China, 
simply  that  the  truth  may  be  known  and 
justice  done. 

Mr.  Chester  Holcombe,  who  discusses 
this  subject  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly  for 
September,  has  been  for  over  thirty 
years  intimately  associated  with  Ameri- 
can diplomatic  affairs  in  China.  Several 
important  volumes,  such  as  “The  Heal 
Chinaman,”  and  “The  Real  Chinese 
Question,”  have  issued  from  his  pen.  He 
holds  no  brief  for  missionaries;  with  the 
ethical  or  religious  questions  involved 
in  their  presence  in  China  he  has  noth- 
ing to  do;  even  of  the  moral  influence 
they  exert  he  does  not  speak.  He  views 
the  matter  from  a purely  secular  and  so- 
cial standpoint.  Whether  the  Chinese 
people  and  the  Chinese  government  want 
them  or  not,  whether  their  presence  is 
an  aid  or  a menace  to  the  peace  and  prog- 
ress of  the  nation — these  are  the  impor- 
tant questions  with  which  he  deals.  And 
in  the  treatment  of  this  subie^  “neither 
conjecture  nor  hearsay  form  the  basis  of 
conclusions  reached,  but  facts  gained 


4 Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


through  a long  and  necessarily  close 
study  of  the  missionary  question  in 
China,  innumerable  discussions,  and 
much  practical  experience  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  so-called  ‘missionary  cases.’  ” 

Why  Missionaries  Suffer 

The  first  corroborative  fact  cited  by 
those  who  are  disposed  to  lay  any  meas- 
ure of  blame  upon  the  missionaries,  is 
that  in  the  Boxer  rebellion  and  other 
lesser  uprisings  it  is  almost  invariably 
the  missionary  and  his  native  convert 
who  have  suffered  ill-treatment  or  loss 
of  life.  In  explanation  of  this,  Mr.  Hol- 
combe reminds  us  that  “the  Boxer  up- 
rising was  an  abortive  attempt  to  drive 
all  foreigners  of  every  class  from  China, 
and  thus  to  save  the  empire  from  par- 
tition and  distribution  among  the  great 
cormorant  Powers  of  Europe — which 
was  believed  to  be  the  distinct  purpose 
and  inevitable  result  of  the  continued 
presence  of  foreigners  there;  in  fact, 
missionaries  formed  the  only  class  of 
alien  residents  who  had  no  part  in  the 
development  of  such  a fear  and  frenzy. 
They  suffered  most  because  they  alone  of 
all  alien  classes  had  established  them- 
selves at  remote  parts  of  the  interior,  in 
close  touch  with  the  people,  and  out  of 
reach  of  battleship,  cruiser,  or  any  other 
means  of  defence  or  place  of  refuge.  In 
a general  raid  against  all  foreigners,  the 
missionary  was  first  attacked  because  he 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  5 


was  first  at  hand,  and,  to  put  it  frankly 
and  truthfully,  he  suffered  because  he 
was  in  or  part  of  bad  company;  not  be- 
cause he  was  a missionary,  but  for  the 
crime,  in  Chinese  eyes,  of  being  a for- 
eigner.” 

Christianity  Not  Forced  Upon 
Chinese 

Nor  is  Mr.  Holcombe  disposed  to  ac- 
cept the  theory  that  uprisings  are  in  any 
measure  a protest  on  the  part  of  the  Chi- 
nese against  an  alien  and  unwelcome 
form  of  religion  which  is  being  forced 
upon  them.  He  says:  “To  talk  to  per- 
sons who  choose  to  listen,  to  throw  wide 
the  doors  of  chapels  where  natives  who 
desire  may  hear  the  Christian  faith  ex- 
plained and  urged  upon  their  attention, 
to  sell  at  half  cost  or  to  give  the  Bible 
and  Christian  literature  freely  to  those 
who  may  care  to  read  them,  to  heal  the 
sick,  without  cost,  who  come  for  medi- 
cal treatment,  to  instruct  children  whose 
parents  are  desirous  that  they  should  re- 
ceive education — surely  none  or  all  of 
these  constitute  methods  or  practices  to 
which  the  word  force  may  be  applied 
under  any  allowable  use  of  the  English 
language.  And  this,  thus  briefly  sum- 
marized, constitutes  the  entire  body  of 
missionary  effort  in  China.  . . . There 
is  no  difference  between  the  work  of 
pioneer  preachers  in  the  Far  West,  that 
of  laborers  or  ‘settlement  workers’  in 


6 Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


the  slums  of  great  cities,  or  of  eloquent 
pastors  of  wealthy  and  fashionable 
churches  in  the  Back  Bay  district  of 
Boston  or  Fifth  Avenue  in  New  York, 
and  that  done  by  missionaries  in  China. 
If  the  last  named  force  the  acceptance 
of  Christianity  upon  their  hearers,  then 
so  do  all  the  others.  . . . Those  who  as- 
sert that  Christianity  is  wholly  unsuited 
to  the  Chinese  character,  that  the  Chi- 
nese will  not  and  cannot  become  sin- 
cere and  loyal  Christians,  are  most  re- 
spectfully referred  to  the  long  list  of  na- 
tive martyrs,  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages, 
who  readily  and  gladly  gave  up  their 
lives  in  the  Boxer  movement,  rather  than 
abjure  the  Christian  faith.* 

“It  might  further  be  added  that  un- 
selfish men  and  devoted  women,  enthusi- 
astic in  what  appears,  to  them  at  least, 
to  be  a great  cause,  who  are  ready  to  ex- 
patriate themselves  and  to  abandon  all 
their  ambitions  and  their  lives  to  its 
promotion  in  foreign  lands,  have  as 
good  a right  to  carry  out  their  self-sac- 
rificing wishes,  to  enter  China  and  do 
their  chosen  work  there  by  all  proper 
methods,  as  have  their  fellow-citizens 
who  seek  the  same  empire  in  order  to 
win  a fortune  by  dealing  in  cotton  goods, 
kerosene,  silk,  tea,  or  possibly  in  opium. 

* Those  who  are  desirous  of  securing  infor- 
mation on  this  matter  are  referred  to  “The 
China  Martyrs  of  1900,”  by  Forsyth  : or  “China’s 
Book  of  Martyrs,”  by  Luella  Miner. — Editor  of 
The  Spirit  of  Missions. 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  7 


They  have  precisely  the  same  right,  no 
greater  and  no  less,  to  the  protection  and 
sympathetic  assistance  of  their  own  gov- 
ernment as  any  other  class  of  citizens. 
To  more  than  this,  American  mission- 
aries have  never  made  claim.” 

The  Real  Cause  of  Outbreaks 

What,  then,  is  the  cause  for  this 
hatred  for  the  foreigner  which  now  and 
again  breaks  forth  in  such  blind  fury 
and  of  which  the  missionary  is  so  fre- 
quently the  victim?  Mr.  Holcombe,  as 
a careful  student  of  history,  finds  it,  not 
in  rebellion  against  an  unwelcome  re- 
ligion, but  in  a smouldering  sense  of  the 
injustice  and  selfish  cruelty  which  has 
from  the  beginning  marked  the  dealings 
of  presumably  Christian  nations  in  their 
intercourse  with  China.  “The  entering 
wedge,”  he  says,  “to  break  open  the 
barred  doors  of  Chinese  seclusion  was 
driven  home  by  the  military  power  of 
Great  Britain  mainly  in  order  to  force 
a market  for  Indian  opium,  of  which 
that  Christian  government  held  a 
monopoly.  From  that  day  to  this  every 
form  of  foreign  enterprise  in  China,  ir- 
respective of  character  or  nationality, 
has  been  tainted  with  opium  and  hin- 
dered by  the  hatred,  suspicion  and  con- 
tempt engendered  by  the  eventual  suc- 
cess of  this  monstrous  scheme  to  despoil 
China  in  brain,  body,  and  pocket,  for 


8 Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


the  sake  of  gain  to  the  exchequer  of 
Great  Britain.  To  this  must  he  added 
more  than  sixty  years  of  unjust  and  in- 
excusable diplomacy,  the  exploitation  of 
China  to  suit  the  rival  ambitions  and 
satisfy  the  ever-growing  greed  of  the 
great  European  Powers,  robberies  of  its 
territory  upon  every  border,  and  a con- 
sistent disregard  of  every  claim  which 
the  Chinese  might  put  forward  to  the 
ownership  of  their  own  territory  and  the 
management  of  their  own  affairs.  Most 
clearly  it  must  he  understood  that  not 
the  missionary  in  the  cabin  hut  the 
opium  and  gunpowder  in  the  hold  has 
fixed  the  hatred  and  established  a per- 
manent opposition  among  the  Chinese  to 
all  things  foreign.  Once  for  all,  it  must 
be  most  emphatically  declared  that  not 
Christian  propagandism,  but  most  un- 
christian policies  and  practices  of  ag- 
gression, dominance  and  spoliation  upon 
the  part  of  certain  governments  of 
Europe  brought  about  the  horrors  of  the 
Boxer  uprising.” 

No  Special  Privileges  for 
Missionaries 

It  is  a common  but  mistaken  im- 
pression that  extraordinary  privileges 
have  been  asked  for  missionaries  and 
grudgingly  granted  by  the  government 
under  practical  coercion.  Nothing  could 
he  further  from  the  truth.  “Our  own 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  9 


government,”  he  declares,  “is  particularly 
careful  upon  this  point,  asking  special 
favors  for  none,  and  exerting  its  efforts, 
when  occasion  arises,  for  its  people  as 
American  citizens  only.  It  is  not  per- 
mitted even  to  state  the  calling  or  avo- 
cation of  the  bearer  of  a passport,  and 
though  the  request  has  often  been  made 
by  Chinese  officials  that  this  be  done  in 
the  case  of  missionaries  in  order  that 
special  protection  and  assistance  be 
afforded  them,  it  has  been  necessary  to 
refuse  the  request  as  contrary  to  statute 
or  regulation.  The  missionary  possesses 
only  such  privileges,  exemptions,  and 
immunities  under  treaty  as  are  grafted 
to  his  fellow-alien  of  every  other  class 
and  occupation.  The  right  to  reside,  ac- 
quire property,  and  to  pursue  his  calling 
at  certain  specified  centres  of  population, 
mostly  upon  the  sea-coast,  and  to  travel 
freely  under  passport,  throughout  the  in- 
terior, covers  all  to  which  he  is  entitled 
under  the  official  pledge  and  seal  of  the 
Imperial  government  of  China. 

Attitude  of  the  Government 

“Yet,  from  the  inception  of  what  may 
be  termed  modern  missionary  enterprise 
in  China,  the  missionaries  have  gone  be- 
yond this  narrow  limit  of  favor,  gone  be- 
yond the  treaty  ports,  until  now  they  can 
be  found  in  every  province  and  in  nearly 
every  large  city.  Even  in  many  mud- 


10  Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


walled  villages  and  rural  hamlets  mis- 
sionary families  are  now  to  be  found 
quietly  and  permanently  established  in 
homes,  in  close  touch  and  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  the  native  residents.  This 
special  favor,  unobtainable  by  any  other 
alien  class  in  the  empire,  has  assuredly 
not  been  won  either  through  any  exer- 
cise of  governmental  force  or  diplomatic 
pressure.  It  has  been  slowly  gained  by 
the  exercise  of  patience,  tact  and  discre- 
tion upon  the  part  of  the  missionaries 
themselves,  under  the  open  eyes  and  with 
the  tacit,  though  unspoken,  consent  of 
the  Imperial  authorities.  . . . The  Em- 
peror will  neither  force  nor  forbid  the 
residence  and  labors  of  missionaries  at 
any  points  beyond  the  treaty  ports.  But 
recognizing  and  appreciating  the  self- 
denying  and  philanthropic  character  of 
missionary  effort,  he  will  gladly  permit 
those  engaged  in  it  to  establish  them- 
selves throughout  the  interior,  wherever 
they  may  he  able  to  do  so  with  the  con- 
sent and  the  good  will  of  the  people  of 
the  locality.  It  is  not  known  that  this 
well-established  line  of  policy  has  been 
formulated  and  officially  communicated 
to  any  foreign  power.  But  it  has  been 
verbally  declared  to  the  writer  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet  and  other  high  au- 
thorities of  the  empire  upon  many  oc- 
casions.” 

Not  only  has  the  Chinese  government 
opposed  no  barrier,  and  indeed  given  a 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  11 


tacit  consent  to  the  extension  of  the 
sphere  of  missionary  enterprise  far  be- 
yond the  limits  imposed  by  treaty,  but 
the  authorities  have  never,  in  the  case  of 
injury  to  persons  or  property  in  towns 
not  covered  by  treaty  regulation,  pleaded 
this  fact  as  exempting  them  from  re- 
sponsibility and  reparation.  The  wit- 
ness borne  upon  this  point  by  Mr.  Hol- 
combe is  most  positive,  and  indicates 
clearly  that  the  real  desire  of  those  in 
authority  is  to  deal  fairly  with  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  to  recognize  the  value  of 
their  unselfish  efforts  for  the  good  of 
Chinese  humanity.  He  says:  “The  gov- 
ernment has  never,  within  the  knowledge 
of  the  writer,  attempted  to  shirk  full  re- 
sponsibility for  the  lives  and  property  of 
American  citizens  in  any  part  of  the 
empire,  or  to  claim  that  missionaries,  in 
establishing  themselves  in  the  interior, 
ran  their  own  risk,  took  their  lives  into 
their  own  keeping,  and  must  themselves 
bear  any  financial  losses  which  local  op- 
position to  their  presence  might  entail 
upon  them.” 

Chinese  Sympathy  for  Mission 
Work 

Of  course,  the  facts  thus  far  stated 
are  in  a large  degree  negative;  that  is  to 
say,  they  do  not  necessarily  indicate  ap- 
proval of,  or  sympathy  for,  missionary 
work  as  such  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese 


12  Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


government.  Positive  evidence  of  tliis  is 
hardly  to  be  expected,  yet  Mr.  Holcombe 
cites  instances  of  official  and  semi-official 
acts  which  indicate  that  the  ■authorities 
do  recognize  in  Christian  missions  as 
conducted  among  them  a valuable  factor 
in  the  modernization  of  China.  For  ex- 
ample, an  official  commission  coming  to 
this  country  took  pains  to  visit, 
among  the  other  places  upon  its  list,  the 
offices  of  the  American  Board,  which  is 
the  parent  of  foreign  missionary  organ- 
izations in  the  United  States  and  has 
large  interests  in  China.  The  members 
of  this  commission,  though  not  them- 
selves Christians,  repeatedly  expressed 
their  gratitude  for  what  was  being  done 
in  their  home-land,  and  said:  “We  know 
who  our  friends  are.” 

It  is  also  matter  of  common  knowledge 
that  influential  and  prominent  Chinese 
are  constantly  making  large  donations  to 
missionary  hospitals  and  schools;  that 
they  are  fostering  the  rapidly  increasing 
demand  for  Christian  literature  and  edu- 
cational works;  and  that  they  are  show- 
ing special  and  unsolicited  courtesy  and 
assistance  to  missionaries.  All  these 
facts,  the  writer  declares,  are  evidence 
that  “whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of 
foreigners,  either  resident  in  China  or  in 
their  native  lands,  China  itself,  as  repre- 
sented by  the  leaders  of  thought  and  pub- 
lic opinion  in  it,  has  recognized  and  ac- 
cepted the  missionary  enterprise  as  one 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  13 


of  the  most  important  and  useful  factors 
in  the  creation  and  development  of  new 
life  in  that  ancient  and  antique  em- 
pire.” 

Value  of  TJtese  Statements 

It  would  have  been  almost  useless  for 
an  avowed  friend  of  the  missionary  cause 
to  make  statements  like  the  above  with 
the  hope  of  having  them  widely  received. 
There  are  many  people  who  would  be 
only  too  ready  to  attribute  their  positive- 
ness either  to  ignorance  or  to  invincible 
prejudice,  but  we  fancy  that  even  these 
will  scarcely  be  prepared  to  discredit  or 
gainsay  the  assertions  of  a man  who, 
with  unbiased  view,  has  been  so  long  an 
observer  of  actual  conditions  upon  the 
spot. 

Mr.  Holcombe  would  have  conferred  a 
great  benefit  upon  missionary  enterprise 
had  he  done  no  more  than  that  which  is 
outlined  above,  but  he  proceeds  to  touch 
upon  a matter  which  is  being  constantly 
brought  forward,  and  presented — as  mis- 
sionaries and  their  friends  have  believed 
— in  a false  light.  There  is  certainly  a 
widespread  impression  that  constant  fric- 
tion exists  between  the  great  body  of  the 
Chinese  and  the  missionaries  who  live 
among  them;  that  there  is  indeed  a 
covert  distrust  and  hatred,  waiting  only 
the  opportunity  for  expression.  It  is 
worth  while,  then,  to  have  a statement 
like  this : “In  many  years  of  intimate 


14  Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


official  and  friendly  intercourse  with  all 
classes  of  Chinese  in  every  part  of  the 
empire,  the  writer  has  never  heard  even 
one  complaint  of,  or  objection  to,  the 
presence  of  American  missionaries  in 
China,  or  the  character  of  their  work.” 

Of  course,  cases  of  friction  do  arise. 
It  would  be  impossible  that  foreigners 
should  live  with  any  intimacy  among 
such  a people  as  the  Chinese  without 
sometimes — and  frequently  unintention- 
ally— giving  cause  of  offence.  “The  mis- 
sionary cases”  to  which  Mr.  Holcombe 
alludes  are  of  this  character.  Not  all 
missionaries  are  wise,  nor  are  all  China- 
men lacking  in  foolish  superstitions  and 
prejudices.  But  so  far  as  the  attitude 
of  the  Chinese  people  is  concerned,  the 
writer  declares  that  “with  greater  mutual 
intelligence  and  less  frequent  occasions 
of  misunderstanding,  these  causes  of 
friction  and  conflict  have,  in  great  meas- 
ure, disappeared.  The  true  character 
and  great  value  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise as  a factor  in  the  modernization  of 
China,  and  in  bringing  it  into  line  with 
the  great  nations  of  the  world,  is  almost 
universally  recognized  and  appreciated, 
at  least  by  those  who  are  being  most  radi- 
cally affected  by  it.” 

C ommercial  Importance  of  the 
Missionary 

The  final  point  upon  which  Mr.  Hol- 
combe touches  does  not  concern  those  of 


Missionary  Enterprise  in  China  15 


us  who  believe  in  missions  for  their  own 
sake,  and  yet  it  is  worthy  of  note  that,  in 
the  opinion  of  a trained  and  careful  ob- 
server, the  value  of  the  missionary  en- 
terprise to  the  cause  of  commercial  ex- 
pansion is  reckoned  as  a great  one.  This 
is,  of  course,  no  argument  for  preaching 
the  Gospel  in  China,  or  anywhere  else, 
nor  is  it  a thing  which  as  believers  in 
Christian  missions  we  would  care  to  see 
brought  forward,  but  Mr.  Holcombe  has 
treated  the  whole  subject  from  a secular 
point  of  view,  and  he  renders  a service 
to  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice  in  as- 
serting that  in  the  missionary  enterprise 
is  to  be  found  an  agency  unequalled  by 
any  other  for  the  development  of  our 
commerce.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  “every 
missionary  is,  whether  willingly  or  un- 
willingly, an  agent  for  the  display  and 
recommendation  of  American  fabrics 
and  wares  of  every  conceivable  sort. 
Each  missionary  home,  whether  estab- 
lished in  great  Chinese  cities  or  rural 
hamlets,  serves  as  an  object  lesson,  an  ex- 
position of  the  practical  comfort,  con- 
venience, and  value  of  the  thousand  and 
one  items  in  the  long  catalogue  of 
articles  which  complete  the  equipment  of 
an  American  home.  Idle  curiosity  upon 
the  part  of  the  natives  grows  into  per- 
sonal interest  which  in  turn  develops  the 
desire  to  possess.  Did  space  permit,  an 
overwhelming  array  of  facts  and  figures 
could  be  set  forth  to  prove  the  inesti- 


16  Missionary  Enterprise  in  China 


mable,  though  unrecognized,  value  of  the 
missionary  as  an  agent  for  the  develop- 
ment of  American  commerce  in  every 
part  of  the  globe.  The  manufacturing 
and  commercial  interests  in  the  United 
States,  even  though  indifferent  or  active- 
ly hostile  to  the  direct  purpose  of  the 
missionary  enterprise,  could  well  afford 
to  bear  the  entire  cost  of  all  American 
missionary  effort  in  China  for  the  sake 
of  the  large  increase  in  trade  which  re- 
sults from  such  effort.” 

What  This  Enterprise  Deserves 

Is  it  not  time  that,  in  the  face  of  testi- 
mony like  the  foregoing,  cheap  sarcasms 
and  mean  misrepresentations  concern- 
ing missionary  work  and  its  results  should 
cease?  An  enterprise  which  has  won, 
and  honestly  won,  for  itself — in  the  face 
of,  and  in  spite  of,  the  distrust  and  ill- 
feeling  which  Christian  governments 
had  justly  incurred— the  good  will  even 
of  those  who  are  not  its  converts,  and 
the  protection  of  a government  which 
only  a few  years  ago  was  avowedly  hos- 
tile to  it,  should  certainly  receive  from 
the  men  of  a Christian  nation  at  least 
the  same  fair  treatment  and  no  less  cor- 
dial support  than  that  which  is  given  it 
by  the  Chinese  themselves. 


